Homemade Christmas presents

[Number109]

Does anyone make their own gifts? How well received are they generally?

My girls are back at school soon and I plan to go back to batch cooking and wondered if I could add a bit of gift making in at the same time - some jam or fudge would be able to be stored for a few weeks I would think.

I can also sew so contemplating infinity scarves and those make up bags with a drawstring that open out to lie flat.

I’ll save my time and stick to generic shop bought.

I think that is missing to point of the above replies

Making jam or fudge or scarves for everyone just because that’s what you like to make is no better than ‘generic shop bought’ stuff

Making or buying things you know the recipient will love is something entirely different - the key difference being you don’t make or buy the same thing for everyone

Although thinking about it again, an elderly friend of my mum's once made me a beautiful sewing box and also a cross stitch Christmas decoration, both of which I treasure (sadly she's no longer with us). Perhaps it's more homemade clothing I'd avoid.

I think the makeup bags sound good if you know a teenager? Food I'd avoid.

@janaih
Do you want your pound coin wrapped or paid directly into your bank?

I make hedgerow gin and slow whisky. Find that is always well received but I do make it for people I know like it.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles surprise me!

Do you thing mug cosys are a bit naff? I was thinking of doing them for stockings.

Oh God, I HATE homemade presents! The cognitive dissonance between the gratitude for the person putting the effort in and the general 'ugh I have to throw this horror straight out' is so upsetting and leaves me feeling like an awful person. I would genuinely prefer a Twix or packet of polos.

This thread comes up every year and sadly it would appear most people don't like handmade gifts. Luckily Dsis and I do and swap homemade sloe gin, crochet blankets, handmade cards, gingerbread etc for Christmas and birthdays. Her's are usually my favourite gifts, made with love and beautiful in every way.

@LocalHobo

Years ago I did a cross stitch for my friends 40th. You know the sort of thing, events that happened during her birth year, depiction of her house and pets. It took me a very long time and those who saw it seemed genuinely impressed. When she opened it she burst into tears. Initially I thought she was overwhelmed with my effort but she immediately said it made her think of a jumble sale and she had hoped for theatre tickets. I learnt my lesson, tastes vary and I obviously had not known my mate as well as I thought. I wonder what she did with it - I can imagine it got chucked.

Your friend is incredibly rude . I dislike homemade gifts mainly because I dislike any form of clutter and wouldn’t eat something made in someone else’s kitchen unless I was very sure of their cleanliness , but I would at least be polite enough to say it was lovely and then dispose of it quietly afterwards .

Flavoured gin/vodka and oils have been well received by people who I knew would like them.
Otherwise, no. Sorry.

@Ionlydomassiveones

“ChickpeaCrunch I think the makeup bags sound good if you know a teenager?”

I’m sorry but teenagers who wear make up spend hours on influencer blogs and YouTube about all the latest beauty techniques and products. Most of them would cringe at this suggestion.

Teenagers who only wear a little bit of makeup and need to move it between houses then Eg. My DSD who is slowly amassing a collection of makeup but has got a lunchbox to store it in.

Your teenager may vary lol

@ElizabethinherGermanGarden

Oh God, I HATE homemade presents! The cognitive dissonance between the gratitude for the person putting the effort in and the general 'ugh I have to throw this horror straight out' is so upsetting and leaves me feeling like an awful person. I would genuinely prefer a Twix or packet of polos.

All of them? How odd.

We have one friend who makes the best fudge I've ever eaten. It's a secret family recipe so I can't make it myself. If we were on Christmas present exchanging terms (we're not, we only give presents to my parents - money to children, I give nothing to husband, he gives nothing to me, we don't give anything to anyone else) I'd be absolutely delighted to receive a bag of his fudge.

OTOH, my Mum had some chutney once she bought at a church fundraiser. It was watery. I make chutney so I know where the maker went wrong - not cooking the chutney long enough to get it down a jammy consistency before potting it. The consequence was it wasn't very flavoursome. Utter waste of time making it, given it wasn't done properly.

If I do make a handmade thing it's normally in addition to a non handmade thing so if they do chuck it out they have something!

@ChickpeaCrunch

I think the makeup bags sound good if you know a teenager? Food I'd avoid.

That type of make up bag is great when you are traveling and staying in hotels.

I have made flavoured alcohol that has always been well recieved. I know it hasn't been chucked as I've been asked for refills & had friends bring the bottles on visits to be replenished!

Also made fudge and a few other bits but it was close friends & family & I knew it'd be eaten.

If you know your recipients well I think it can work.

I'd love the fudge and a scarf!

Also, depends on the individual - we're a re-enacting family and most of my presents to and from DH are home made simply because you can't buy the things we want in a shop (thank God says most people)

For my birthday he's making me a tape loom, and for Christmas I'm weaving him a scarf for his Roman soldiering kit.

I made my mum a memory quilt a year or so after my dad died, with patches from some of his old shirts.

I would love a home made present. I love chutney and jam. My mother in law used to knit me jumpers for Xmas. I was delighted.

What is awful is the idea that you should be grateful for someone’s naff pet project which they’ve ‘made with love’ to avoid parting with cash for a proper thoughtful gift.

As with any other gift, if the giver hasn't bothered to consider whether the recipient will actually like or use it, it's a poor gift. That's the problem, not the fact that they chose to spend hours of their time on making it instead of buying something ready-made.

How much time and thought goes into most people's present buying? Not much, I'd say. When my children were little, a close relative used to buy a bargain bag of remaindered items from a book club and dish stuff out to all the children who she felt obliged to give presents to. My children appeared to get what was left when everybody else had been allocated something. The year one of them got a jigsaw for a toddler at a time when they were nearly finished with primary school was a particular highlight.

Dashing into Boot's and picking up half a dozen toiletry sets on a 3 for 2 offer is not thoughtful present-buying. I'd rather have a jar of jam.

I make jam and pop them in nice jars, so at least if they don't like the jam they've still got a lovely glass jar out of it

I'm a home crafter and have gifted friends and family crocheted blankets. As a surprise, and not for any occasion other than I know how much happiness it would (and did) bring them . You really need to pick your audience. There was an incredibly depressing thread on here last year if you have a look.